Everyday Food For Everyday People

You don't need to spend your day pressing apples to get a delicious apple cider. With just a few minimal ingredients and a little time, you can have a warming spiced mug of apple cider in your hand. Take a look how.

First things first, I always thought cider was alcoholic. I never knew or understood that the non alcoholic kind existed! What? I don't know how I didn't know this because I am from Canada and I am now aware that cider is generally considered non alcoholic. I guess I have been living in Europe too long because I always think of booze when I hear the word cider. Is this just me?

​Spoiler alert, this is non alcoholic.

Anyway, this past weekend we hosted a small get together to celebrate Guy Fawkes, or as I call it, Bonfire night. If you didn't grow up with this tradition, your childhood was seriously robbed. A night when you got to sit around a fire and roast wieners & marshmallows and drink hot chocolate. That would later become wine...ha! It was always fun, a crowd would turn up and the fire would be raging where you could feel your cheeks burn and your toes warm. Yes, it was usually cold because this was Newfoundland at what felt like the start of winter. I remember many bonfire nights with a blanket of snow.

​And yes, us Newfoundlanders celebrate Guy Fawkes night as well. The long lived British tradition made it's way across the pond to Newfoundland more than 400 yeas ago and you can see how that happened here.

So a lot of years later this Newfoundlander married a man from the UK and we still celebrate to this day in Spain. Of course we do!

Back to our Guy Fawkes night.

I wanted to make something non alcoholic and warming for the kids to try and did give the cider a thought. But I honestly thought you really did have to press your own apples....eek! After just doing a 30 second search into Google, I soon learned that everyone was doing it the apple juice way. So that was exactly what I did. Easy.

They drank a few mugs of the cider and the rest was left for Sunday morning. For a change instead of my morning tea, I had a warming mug of spiced cider and it was delicious.

Notes about the cider:

First and foremost, use good quality apple juice. The best you can find. We have an Aldi here and they sell a pretty fantastic all natural organic apple juice. It does not need to be organic, just a natural juice will do. So, any kind of natural apple juice will do.

The longer it simmers the stronger the flavour will be. I simmered it for 40 minutes and it really had a beautiful flavour after this time. Then the next day I reheated myself a cup and it was even stronger but not overpowering.

It will keep after you have made it, so you don't need to make it fresh. If not serving that day, put it in a bottle or other type of airtight container and keep in the fridge. Then you can just reheat it when you want a cup of cinnamon and apple comfort!

In a large pot set over medium heat, add the brown sugar, orange peel, apples, cinnamon sticks and nutmeg. Stir for about a minute. Add a splash of apple juice and stir until it bubbles and becomes a little syrupy.

​Add remaining apple juice and bring to a simmer. Stir well, cover and reduce heat to low. Leave to simmer for 30 - 40 minutes. Can be served straight away or reheated for later.

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Cider is definitely an alcoholic drink in the UK. Mulled cider uses "proper" cider as well... I was surprised to hear a child being offered by a glass of cider by an (American) mother a few years and discovered it was made of apple juice!